Golf swing problem on a target to the right-?

Question

I am a lefty first off. Sometimes when I am on the range or the course and my target line changes to the right for a certain shot, my stance and alignment feel funny. My swing is not the same and I hit a thin slice to the left.

It is as if your body is still thinking the target is straight ahead from where you walked directly to the ball. Also,on the range, with a square mat, if a flag you are aiming for is off to the right, its the exact same, unconfident feeling.

Is this a common problem?,what is the term for it?, and of course, how can I adjust.

Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

Brad,

I used to hit off the driving range mats quite a bit, and I used to get this feeling as well. It doesn't have anything to do with your swing, it's all about the geometric sightlines created by the driving range itself.

When you're actually out playing golf there are not sharp angles, everything is more free form.....however when you're at a driving range everything has sharp angles and the thing that messes you up the most is those darn mats....they are exactly square.....so what happens when you aim at a target that is not exactly in front of you, your mind sees all those perfectly square angles and tells you that something is wrong.....

The solution is to actually move the mat inthe stall to point at your target, and then you can square yourself to the angles on the mat, this is a good tip to help your alignment as well.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Often times t-box markers don't point directly at what should be your target line.  They're set up to point slightly off to the right or left.  This is deliberate to add a little challenge on the tee shot.  When you're setting up for your Tee-off other than making sure you're not ahead of the markers pick a target a couple of feet in front of you that lines up with the direction you want your ball to travel.   Align yourself on that target and swing away.  The same rule applies to fairway shots.  Slices are usually caused by one or both of two swing errors.  First, club face open at impact and second, an oustide to in swing.  Strengthen your grip at set-up and make sure the clubface is more closed at set-up.